A friend of mine is building an electric violin and cello. Google tells me that a violin has a frequency range of about 196 hz to 10 khz.
Cello is 65.41Hz to 220Hz approximately.
I would think these ranges would be easy for a small full range driver.
Any thoughts of drivers and enclosures that would be suitable. I guess tonal quality would be the main factor. Oh, and an amp too.
Thanks,
Mack
Cello is 65.41Hz to 220Hz approximately.
I would think these ranges would be easy for a small full range driver.
Any thoughts of drivers and enclosures that would be suitable. I guess tonal quality would be the main factor. Oh, and an amp too.
Thanks,
Mack
Hi, I've always have mixed feelings when listening to an amplified instrument.
Most of the time I find it irritating.
So there must be a lot of job to be done to make it sound decent.
Audio bandwidth is 20-20000
don't forget the harmonics
Harmonics? OK. Thanks.
That would be less than two octaves. I'm not a cellist, but that appears hard to believe. As the lowest string usually is tuned to C2 and the highest to A3, i.e. three stacked fifths higher, the interval between the lowest and the highest open strings yet covers nearly two octaves. And it appears easy to cover more than two octaves with a single string, with playing string harmonics even considerably more.
Best regards!
Yes, as was just said the harmonics go way higher. But even the fundamental of 220Hz is only the open A string of the cello.
If you are using separate speakers for the violin and cello, I would suggest trying an open baffle design for the violin for a natural sound. Very easy to try. If you don't like it just put the driver in an elternative design.
if for stage work or playing in traditional quartet, a Karlson 12 would be good for the cello (and probably ok for the violin provided the right choice of speaker. A smaller coupler could be used although a 10" speaker is pretty good. A K-tube in the cabinet or on top for tweeter could provide good quality highs but need to work ~!K6 and up due to small volume
the curved reflector in this little 8 inch driver cabinet probalby was probably a waste of effort. A flat port panel would have done as well or better with regards to making a decent graph
this is a strong motor 8 inch speaker (Delta Pro8a)
YouTube
maybe a small line array would be good for violin?
the curved reflector in this little 8 inch driver cabinet probalby was probably a waste of effort. A flat port panel would have done as well or better with regards to making a decent graph
this is a strong motor 8 inch speaker (Delta Pro8a)
YouTube
maybe a small line array would be good for violin?
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Then why bother with a speaker-amp system?
Just get headphones!
Connect the violin or cello output to a sound card (Steinberg makes some nice ones with good drivers), USB to computer. Get a DAW, add in some plugins and have hours of endless fun!
Everything would be clean sound, low volume, not affect the neighbours, etc....
Just get headphones!
Connect the violin or cello output to a sound card (Steinberg makes some nice ones with good drivers), USB to computer. Get a DAW, add in some plugins and have hours of endless fun!
Everything would be clean sound, low volume, not affect the neighbours, etc....
Then why bother with a speaker-amp system?
Just get headphones!
Connect the violin or cello output to a sound card (Steinberg makes some nice ones with good drivers), USB to computer. Get a DAW, add in some plugins and have hours of endless fun!
Everything would be clean sound, low volume, not affect the neighbours, etc....
That just might be the answer.
I'm surprised you recommend a 8" driver. I'd of thought 4" would be plenty.
Do you have a web site? - thanks
Here are some of my thoughts on this matter from general knowledge on speaker design frequency range, listening sessions etc. the violin is easier to do because of the limited bandwidth, but the cello will need some special elements to take into account - the large size of the instrument instantly rules out using a small speaker to reproduce it's sound (because of the problem that low freq are harder to reproduce naturally by smaller cones that need to make large excursions and limited SPL again taking into account the need for high quality - no distortion sound) on the other side larger (6.5 inch or larger) cones are better suited and don't have the problem of high frequency extension in this case (expect a freq range of 60 hz - 9000 hz for a cello). My intuition is telling me an open baffle (open back cabinet like with guitars) setup with high Qts driver with a paper cone with good sensitivity (above 91 db), at least 6.5 inches unit or larger and perhaps if you want some metallic resonances to go with the "electric" nature of the cello you can try finding a unit that has a "singing dust cap" made of aluminium to add some metallic zing to the sound.
Variation - if you have say four 4 inch units they might work ok together, depends on the specs of the driver (and it's easier to find one with aluminium dust cap... that sings)
Variation - if you have say four 4 inch units they might work ok together, depends on the specs of the driver (and it's easier to find one with aluminium dust cap... that sings)
To a a great extent how closely the electronic instrument copies the sound of an acoustic instrument dictates how important the reproduction of high frequencies is here. The higher notes of an acoustic violin are incredibly difficult to reproduce, and the ones I always use when assessing the upper frequencies of speakers. I would go for a smaller drive unit for this reason, as, to generalise, they are better at reproducing high frequencies.
If the electric cello produces a similar harmonic spectrum to an acoustic one, a 4" driver will be big enough for the purpose required. The fundamentals on the C string are very weak, more than 8dB lower than further up the instrument.
As suggested headphones might be a good solution. I had 2 colleagues in an orchestra who bought electric violins for practising in London flats using headphones, where using their "real" violins would have been a problem with neighbours. They find them really worthwhile.
If the electric cello produces a similar harmonic spectrum to an acoustic one, a 4" driver will be big enough for the purpose required. The fundamentals on the C string are very weak, more than 8dB lower than further up the instrument.
As suggested headphones might be a good solution. I had 2 colleagues in an orchestra who bought electric violins for practising in London flats using headphones, where using their "real" violins would have been a problem with neighbours. They find them really worthwhile.
I've heard speakers do incredibly bad reproduction of violins... even very expensive ones..
Lately I've found this little gem... it excels on string instruments, and percussion.
Very realistic reproduction of violins.
Give it a try. Coupled with a woofer for the low end, the SBAcoustics SB65 2.5" is a little marvel.
21/2" SB65WBAC25-4 :: SB Acoustics
Some thoughts...
- You might not want accurate reproduction of whatever is coming from the instrument pickup.
- If this is definitely only ever going to be used at low volumes at home, then a 4-5" driver will do fine. Pick one that's reasonably flat out to 10kHz or so, and build a box that'll help it get down to 65Hz or whatever.
- If this might end up being used out on the road for gigs or busking, go for an 8" coaxial as a minimum.
- Make sure you've got some EQ. See point 1.
Chris
- You might not want accurate reproduction of whatever is coming from the instrument pickup.
- If this is definitely only ever going to be used at low volumes at home, then a 4-5" driver will do fine. Pick one that's reasonably flat out to 10kHz or so, and build a box that'll help it get down to 65Hz or whatever.
- If this might end up being used out on the road for gigs or busking, go for an 8" coaxial as a minimum.
- Make sure you've got some EQ. See point 1.
Chris
No need to use such a small speaker, 8" will reach high enough and as a bonus will have an easier life producing significant SPL at 65 Hz you mentioned.
Specially considering the cello.
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